BEWITCHED

18. The Truth is Kinda Nuanced

(A's/N: I wrote this chapter while listening to a song called Interlude by Kelsea Ballerini on repeat. With Kelsea's lyrics in this song hitting close to how Octavia's life was playing out, I knew I had to incorporate it somehow into the chapter. It's a bit of a plot twist, but it was needed for the next few chapters to play out how I want them to. Apologies in advance for the ending in this chapter.)

"I'm blowing up my life, but I'm standing by the crater." 

Sitting on the couch, Octavia's eyes were closed to find some kind of inner peace, despite the chaos erupting all around her. The party in the hive had died drastically, leaving a small buzzing of talking amongst those who stayed to enjoy the ambiance. She could feel Sookie constantly watching her, the hybrid's state of mentality continuously on her mind. There was worry behind Sookie's emotions, as Octavia felt that too, but chose to stay silent for a good while. There was something peaceful in her own silence that felt welcoming, despite the distraught it brought others. With her head balanced securely against her hands, she felt many walking around her as if the world had slowed down, and everything became a white noise in the background. 

With eyes closed, she focused on nothing in particular. Her breathing was regular and blended well with the pace of Sookie's heartbeat. It was calming, to say the least. Within the depths of her magic, dawn was approaching, and her magic fell into a sleepless respite, despite the danger of vampires near her. Octavia was assured that her magic was only at a tranquil rest because of Godric's calmful presence residing in the room. With recent events happening in under a week, Octavia's magic had been challenged by how much control she did and didn't have, based on her emotions. 

Peace with her magic was always hard to find in a world filled with hate and monsters. Peace was almost fucking impossible to seek out despite the few centuries she could find peace amongst humans. But this week, with these events, Octavia was pushed over an exhausting edge to come back from. In the background of her thoughts, Sookie silently pleaded she was okay, but Octavia did not physically move an inch. A silent statue sat in the middle of the three-seated couch, waiting for her life to blow up, though she sat right next to its ever-growing crater. Octavia's unfocused eyes opened when she felt someone standing over her, only to glance up to see Isobel. 

"Whatever's causing a mental storm inside of you, you need to lighten up. The windows protecting us are cracking." Her words brought only confusion to the hybrid as Isobel stepped to the side, showing Octavia that her inner peace was a falsehood. 

The tinted windows were cracked from each side to the very top of the ceiling down to the floor, looking shattered but never broken. Believing her own magic was in a peaceful state, the truth showed itself physically as Godric entered the open space once more from a hallway, allowing the vampire underling to complain about Octavia's presence, causing more stress the more she stayed in the house, the glass windows being Isobel's only example at the moment.  

"You don't know what she's going through right now. Maybe you're the one who should leave." Jason's voice rang through the open-concept room, interrupting Isobel's rant to her sheriff. 

Annoyed by the fact a human spoke to her with an attitude, Isobel tried to cross the room, but Octavia stopped her from reaching her human friends. The thought of all this happening caused a spike in the hybrid's magic: Octavia was slowly starting to lose control, and only two in the room could sense this because of her magical blood flowing in their veins. Octavia pulled her hands to show some kind of surrender, though she could feel her palms becoming warmer and sweatier because of her increasing magic.